HOUSTON – A Rice Village jewelry owner credits TikTok for allowing their business to stay afloat.
In late 2023 Jackie Tien shared a video on social media of her dad, Hung, repairing jewelry at Village Jewelers and wrote of his plans to soon retire.
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“He’s not that great at English, but still chose to open his store in a non-Vietnamese area to interact with more customers and meet new people,” Jackie said in the post.
@houseoftien Shop small, promise it’s so worth it. #houstonshopsmall #htxjeweler #vietnamesebusiness #htxjewelrystores
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Since posting, the video has received over 700,000 views. One commenter said they were willing to drive three hours to make a purchase.
Another person offered business saying: “I own a custom fine jewelry company in Houston. We have to turn away repairs quite a bit. Will he work with people in the trade?”
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Jackie described her father as someone who is dedicated to his craft and was taken aback by all the positive feedback.
“He’s super not in touch with social media, so all of the attention really shocked him and every time a customer comes in and tells him they saw him on TikTok it makes him so happy,” she told KPRC 2’s Rilwan Balogun. “My dad previously wasn’t really selling jewelry that well, he’s not a great salesman. He’s an artist at heart so most of what he did was repairs but since I posted the video, he’s gotten more people come to actually buy pieces.”
The future of the popular social media platform, however, is up in the air.
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In April, the U.S. Congress gave TikTok nine months for the company’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell it or face a nationwide prohibition in the United States. Creators like Trevor Boffone, who we spoke to back in March, noted how many people, including small businesses, rely on social media like TikTok to help support their business, so a potential ban would threaten their businesses.
A report by the National Retail Federation, also claimed that social media usage has become a driving factor for businesses and consumers.
“Consumers today expect brands to have a strong presence on social media and provide content in line with brand values, which includes reacting to a critical moment,” the report claimed. “A recent study on the digital habits of college students from Barnes & Noble College found that 90 percent of college students are on Instagram, 80 percent are on Snapchat and half of those surveyed are on TikTok.”
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Regardless, the Tiens are hoping to use social media to drive their business for the remaining few months before the elder Tien retires.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
